The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a cutting member, according to which method the cutting member is provided with an auxiliary layer on one side and subsequently, by means of an electrochemical processing device, with at least one cutting edge, said cutting member being arranged with respect to an electrode of the electrochemical processing device in such a manner that the auxiliary layer faces away from the electrode.
The invention also relates to a cutting member provided with a plate-shaped carrier, which is provided with a cutting edge and is covered, at least near said cutting edge, with an auxiliary layer.
The invention further relates to a shaving head provided with a cutting member, which is provided with a carrier and a cutting edge for cutting hairs growing from skin, and a manipulator by means of which, in use, hairs are movable along the cutting edge of the cutting member during cutting, said cutting edge of the cutting member and the manipulator adjoining each other and being displaceable relatively to each other in a direction parallel to the cutting edge.
The invention also relates to a shaver comprising a shaving head provided with a cutting member, which is provided with a carrier and a cutting edge for cutting hairs growing from skin, and a manipulator by means of which, in use, hairs can be moved along the cutting edge of the cutting member during cutting, the cutting edge of the cutting member and the manipulator adjoining each other, and the shaver being provided with a driving device for displacing the cutting member and the manipulator of the shaving head with respect to each other in a direction parallel to the cutting edge.
A method of the type mentioned in the opening paragraphs is known from WO 97/17158. The cutting member, which can be manufactured by means of the known method, is a shaving foil which can suitably be used in an electric shaver. The auxiliary layer to be provided in accordance with the known method comprises a polymeric network which is composed of organic and inorganic fragments. After the provision of the auxiliary layer, a pattern of holes is formed in the shaving foil by means of the electrochemical processing device, the shaving foil being arranged with respect to the electrode of the electrochemical processing device in such a manner that the auxiliary layer faces away from the electrode. After the holes have been formed, the auxiliary layer is removed. Since the shaving foil is provided, on one side, with the auxiliary layer during the formation of the holes, each one of the holes thus formed has, on the above-mentioned side, an edge having a radius of rounding which is so small that the edges can be used as cutting edges for co-operation with a shearing element of the electric shaver.
A drawback of the known method resides in that the provision of the auxiliary layer on the shaving foil is rather complicated and time-consuming. Since the auxiliary layer is removed from the shaving foil after the holes have been formed in said shaving foil, the auxiliary layer is not optimally used.